2:12 PM,
Mar. 18, 2013

Freddie Highmore as Norman Bates and Vera Farmiga as Norma Bates in A&E's new drama series 'Bates Motel.'

Written by

Alex Biese
| @ABieseAPP

This could have been good. All of the ingredients were there: an Academy Award-nominated actress, some television heavy-hitters, a timeless piece of Hollywood property. But the only thing that's scary about "Bates Motel," the new A&E series posing as a prequel to "Psycho," is how bad it is.

Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 masterwork is one of the key cinematic shockers of all time, so of course it sets the bar prohibitively high for any project looking to capitalize on the fame of "Psycho" (just ask Gus Van Sant, director of the full-color, shot-for-shot 1998 remake). But "Bates Motel," which ...